Photochemical synthesis of a palladium dichloromethyl complex, {(hexyl)HC(N-methyl-imidazol-2-yl)2}Pd(CHCl2)Cl.: X-ray molecular structures of {(hexyl)HC(N-methylimidazolyl-2-yl)2}Pd(X)Cl, X=Cl, and CHCl2

The reaction of (hexyl)HC(mim)2 (1, mim=N-methyl-imidazol-2-yl) with (cod)PdMeCl in C6H6 yields {(hexyl)HC(mim)2}Pd(Me)Cl (3). The photochemical reaction of 3 with CH2Cl2 at 23 °C in ambient room light yields {(hexyl)HC(mim)2}Pd(CHCl2)Cl (4). It is proposed that this reaction proceeds by homolytic scission of the PdMe bond of 3.